I read widely and in most genres but romance and westerns. Here you'll find my reviews since 2007, with a few reviews of previously read books as well.

In 2012, I completed an "authors of the world" challenge, reading a book for every country (and a few other entities) by someone who'd lived there for at least two years. I expect to tag these books by challenge and country in the near future. I'm still refining my list by adding books that better meet my challenge criteria.

I am delighted by Delicious Iceland, and relieved to know that my aspic of ram testicles, potatoes, and turnips is indeed authentic. I do prefer to cook with objects of the same general shape and size. (For discussion of related matters, see my comments on the Doctrine of Signatures at my review of Jacobs's The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment). I don't anticipate preparing rot-cured shark any time soon, but a person never knows when the urge will strike. Ale and smoked eel sounds like a reasonable compromise between Völundarson's gustatory proclivities and my gourmandish propensities. The illustrating photos are beautiful, many of the dishes seem edible, and the interspresed stories are fun. I confess myself surprised by the lack of cardamom, but perhaps it is a Swedish abomination.